Ellen is a Junior and a Political Science and Sociology double major. Brazil has become an area interest of hers and she is excited to be able to travel throughout the country and learn more about our neighbors to the South. This trip promises to be the first of many to Brazil for Ellen as she is planning to make the country some sort of case study in her Political Science and Sociology Senior projects. When asked what she wants to do when she leaves the Augie bubble Ellen consistently responds, “I want to travel and I want to help people.” Hopefully this first journey to Brazil will be the beginning to those ends.

As I began learning about Brazil during the first half of Winter term I was incredibly fearful of the country and our upcoming travels. I thought that I was going to definitely have all of my things stolen and it was likely that I would be abducted and entered into the sex trade. At the [...]

Maceio is well known for its beauty and I can easily see why. The beaches are incredibly pretty; the water is a clear blue/green and it meets the sky which is pure blue and fluffy white clouds. All around are colors and boats and people and excitement. I love it. Mariano’s dad, who is currently [...]

Brasilia was definitely the most…interesting… city that we visited. It is the capital of the country and is one of the few planned capitals in the world. The designers decided to section off the city based on category. For instance, there is a hotel district, a food district, a governmental district, a nightlife district, etc. [...]

As I was not too in love with Salvador in my first few days there, my uncertainty didn’t last long and all in all Salvador is a nice city full of culture and history. Pelourinho is a district of the city that is full of both of these things, shops, Capoeira, museums, art, etc. We’ve [...]

When I arrived in Salvador I had quite an interesting experience with my first homestay (I say first because I have since been moved for safety reasons). Here is the abridged version: Deanna, Rachel and I were placed in a home that was two doors down from a favela (and not a welcoming one like [...]

In our finals days in Rio we made sure to have many great adventures. Firstly, Deanna, Rachel and I navigated the metro bus system on our own and made our way to the Jardim Botanico (Botanical Gardens). Everything there was ridiculously over sized. Lilly pads the size of large tables, bases of trees the size [...]

The favela was CRAZY! I don’t even know how to explain it. The living conditions of these people seem dire from the outside but something we noticed–and something Professor Mariano reinforced– is that Brazilians don’t seem to care about their external surroundings. There is much liter on the beaches, streets, etc. However, Brazilians think it [...]

I could leave Rio tomorrow and feel as if I fulfilled every goal that I had for this trip and that I saw and felt just about everything that Rio has to offer. It’s only been 5 days that I’ve been here and it feels like it’s been months. I think I’ve seen more of [...]

Rio is wonderful and I’m having a great time. Most importantly, I’m feeling very safe as well. This morning my 2 roommates and I went for a morning run and found a cliff that was a ways down the beach and sat up there for a while looking out onto the ocean for miles. It [...]

As I am soon to travel to Brazil, I reflect on my preparedness and nerves about my upcoming adventure. Prior to coming home for the holidays, I spent the first 5 weeks of my 10-week Winter Term on campus, immersed in Brazil studies. I participated in, and will continue during my travels, a history course, a [...]